I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[trenty]

I could use some advise.

My wife and I will be spending the next 4 years saving up for a Mediterranean cruise for our 35th wedding anniversary. My plan is to buy a Disney gift card every month, which will come pretty close to paying for the cruise.

I'm thinking that it would be wise to use a new, dedicated credit card to buy these Disney gift cards each month. What I'd like to do is get a credit card that would accumulate miles with an airline, such as United (for international travel). The credit card would be used ONLY to buy a Disney gift card each month. When the credit card bill arrives, it would be paid off each month.

I'll confess that I've never participated in a program where air miles are accumulated, so I know absolutely nothing about it. But if I can use a credit card that would help offset the air fare to and from Europe, I would be foolish not to try.

So, credit card gurus, which credit cards do you recommend we investigate to accumulate as many air miles as possible over the next, four years?

I truly appreciate the experience and advice of all those willing to proverbally hold my hand through this.

I don't know what the current sign up bonus for the United card is currently, but I would look into that. Also look into the chase UR cards - CSR and CSP or the business cards (someone else can tell you about those). If you get the right UR card you can transfer the URs to United.

Also look into using the MPX app for purchases. You can earn united points that way too. @Lain can fill you in about MPX.

 

[Haley R]

Dh just messaged me and said he got an in-person interview in Orlando! He’s so excited. I’ll probably embarrass him but he said he was shaking and might cry lol. I’m guessing this job really does mean more to him than I thought.

Do you guys know if there is a thread about moving to or living in Orlando? I know there are some bad areas and we would want to avoid those

 

[Alexle2007]

I agree. I know a lot of people (ahem, other adult nerds...) who are super excited for SW, but would never go to WDW otherwise, so I don't foresee them crowding the other parks. Actually, more than anything, I'd bet on them spending the day at HS and then heading to USO for the rest of their trip.

No! I was hoping for some awesome USO on-site hotel rates to try and draw customers. We have quite a few long school weekends in Sept for a short trip.

 

[Alexle2007]

Dh just messaged me and said he got an in-person interview in Orlando! He’s so excited. I’ll probably embarrass him but he said he was shaking and might cry lol. I’m guessing this job really does mean more to him than I thought.

Do you guys know if there is a thread about moving to or living in Orlando? I know there are some bad areas and we would want to avoid those

My brother lives in Clermont and absolutely loves it out there.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Dh just messaged me and said he got an in-person interview in Orlando! He’s so excited. I’ll probably embarrass him but he said he was shaking and might cry lol. I’m guessing this job really does mean more to him than I thought.

Do you guys know if there is a thread about moving to or living in Orlando? I know there are some bad areas and we would want to avoid those

That’s great....my son lives in Orlando....and we are heading there tomorrow to visit for a week...he lives downtown but I can ask him

Also My husbands company also has its headquarters there...some areas I’ve heard him mention people from LI moving to are Celebration, Winter Park, Windermere, Lake Mary,

 

[Haley R]

My brother lives in Clermont and absolutely loves it out there.

Darn that’s pretty far from where Dh would work. Does your brother know about the Alafaya area at all?

 

[wendow]

Dh just messaged me and said he got an in-person interview in Orlando! He’s so excited. I’ll probably embarrass him but he said he was shaking and might cry lol. I’m guessing this job really does mean more to him than I thought.

Do you guys know if there is a thread about moving to or living in Orlando? I know there are some bad areas and we would want to avoid those

Congrats! I had started a thread awhile back about moving and living there. There was some chatter about jax and Tampa too. I can try to dig it up.

 

[trenty]

@Kennywood the CF has 5x rotating categories - drug stores till the end of this month. I have been buying Disney gift cards at drug stores this quarter. They also have grocery stores as a 5x category sometimes. You can look into that but you would need a CSP, CSR or appropriate UR business card to transfer the URs to if you plan to use United as a travel partner.

 

[Haley R]

That’s great....my son lives in Orlando....and we are heading there tomorrow to visit for a week...he lives downtown but I can ask him

Also My husbands company also has its headquarters there...some areas I’ve heard him mention people from LI moving to are Celebration, Winter Park, Windermere, Lake Mary,

Thanks! It looks like winter park is the closest. It’s still a 37 minute drive and Dh would rather not drive that far but I guess it depends on how the area is around his work.

 

[Alexle2007]

And now I see USO is releasing more info on the new Hagrid ride next Tuesday. DH is begging me to go back this year

We are so looking forward to riding this in June! I am hoping the new “dark” show will be running on Hogswarts by then since we have already seen the others.

 

[Haley R]

Congrats! I had started a thread awhile back about moving and living there. There was some chatter about jax and Tampa too. I can try to dig it up.

That would be great. Thanks!

 

[wendow]

@Haley R Here ya go:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/who-has-made-the-move-to-fl.3668365/

 

[Haley R]

@Haley R Here ya go:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/who-has-made-the-move-to-fl.3668365/

Thanks!

 

[elgerber]

Dh just messaged me and said he got an in-person interview in Orlando! He’s so excited. I’ll probably embarrass him but he said he was shaking and might cry lol. I’m guessing this job really does mean more to him than I thought.

Do you guys know if there is a thread about moving to or living in Orlando? I know there are some bad areas and we would want to avoid those

How exciting! There are always threads on the community board about moving to Orlando.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Thanks! It looks like winter park is the closest. It’s still a 37 minute drive and Dh would rather not drive that far but I guess it depends on how the area is around his work.

Where is the job located, I can ask my son about the area

 

[AmyAnne]

Wondering if anyone has some advice about the best strategy for getting rid of the AmEx Hilton no-fee personal card. Should I just cancel it or is there a worthwhile upgrade possibility?

 

[Judique]

This does make sense. I won't do business cards or high AFs. Right now the only AF card I have and plan to keep is the CSP. I do not plan to add many cards to my small stash of cards, simply because I don't want to have to manage it all. Yes, I know I can earn more with SUBs and more cards. And I realize that I can cancel and move on. But right now, I am earning more than enough for my travel needs. I am in awe of those of you that go after these big offers, it's just not for me, at least for now. I have compared travel churning before to "keeping up with the Jonses." Right now I don't feel the need to go after these big rewards, even though I can see how easily attainable it can be. I am happy with my smaller rewards that get me and my family where I want to go.
(If this sounds like I am arguing, I am not. )

You hit the nail on the head. Right now, I have a few hotel cards and their respective points that give me the additional rooms I presently need outside of Disney. (I like the beaches in summer.) For Disney I have DVC. And although everyone can use a little extra cash, I had no consuming need for cash out strategies. I had purchased enough Disney tickets to do me for the next 15-20 years. So a Disney trip for me is gas and groceries mostly and a few nice meals when I feel like it. All well within my budget.

The big change is that come next January, my youngest grandchild will be 3. Tickets will then be needed for 4 people in that family and if I have a UR stash, I can help without much impact to my budget. So my future needs will hopefully be met with UR's or any other method that presents itself. For me there is no pressure to do anything, but by careful plodding away, I can make it easier for my own family to enjoy trips.

This morning my son (through text) shared that he may be attending a wedding this summer on the west coast - a friend of his girlfriend who is from the west coast. I offered him some southwest gift cards and some points. He wasn't expecting this as he didn't know I had them. It made it much easier for him to plan his getaway with his girlfriend.

So, this is just one way of saying I didn't feel the need for big rewards either and I'm happy with my plan as it stands. I may loosely follow my plan or not. I think I'm fairly conservative about churning, but like you open to a certain limit of it, but I don't have to have every Barclay, citi, chase, amex that is out there. And I may continue the UR journey and get a few of those cards later this year or in 2020, or not. It's all a loosely laid out opportunity that doesn't consume me or make me crazy.

I do like this community and I like to know what's going on. Many subjects pop up here that keep it interesting and the human element is attractive to me. I hope it continues for a long while in the same spirit it is now. At the end of the day we all make our own decisions and are responsible for them but it's always nice to know the options and have people that will give the pros and cons as well as celebrate successes.

 

[wendow]

Thanks! It looks like winter park is the closest. It’s still a 37 minute drive and Dh would rather not drive that far but I guess it depends on how the area is around his work.

We loved Winter Park but that would be a hefty drive if your dh is working in Alafaya. The traffic was pretty bad, imo, and we live outside Denver. My dh & I were in Orlando for several days last April just driving around and looking at different areas. We avoided rush hour times and we still felt it was pretty congested. Not that you want to live right on top of the airport, but there were some nicer areas around the airport. Alafaya is pretty far out, and away from WDW (can be good, can be bad...) but living further away would be less money and less congestion.

 

[kmc8826]

Automatic approval for the Barclaycard AA Biz with a higher credit level than my Arrival Plus in September (14,000). I guess I am officially on the train?!? Please Disney don’t go away...I have no other conceivable need for AA miles! Thanks to all for the help.

Now that I am used to it I can’t seem to just pay my mortgage by transferring the money (even counting the plastiq fee it just seems like such a potential waste of points to just pay outright). So even though MSR of $1000 on the Aviator Biz I will wipe that out at once with our mortgage payment. Just wishing Chase had more MasterCard options other than the IHG.

 

[FoxC63]

No. Unfortunately we rented DVC points to get the best deal DH is really upset and willing to just count what we’ve paid so far as a loss rather than spend more to go. I’m on the fence. We were so excited to finally go back, but it kinda sounds like a nightmare with 3 young kiddos in tow now.

Same. We paid for room only, party ticket and flight. Planned on purchasing 4 Day Park Ticket but have decided against it. There are plenty of things to do outside of the park that we've never done.